In the Shadows (Revised and Edited version)
by Haley of Neron
Summary: Somebody's commiting murder in the royal palace, but will he get away with his evil crimes?
1. Part 1

In the Shadows  
  
Part 1  
  
1 By: Emily AKA Haley of Neron  
  
Apology: Sorry, but due to grammatical errors in the first uploaded version of this story, I had to remove the first couple of versions and this is the revised and edited version. Sorry for the inconvenience. –The author  
  
Authors Note: The royal palace, where this is set, is not my idea, it is copyright to Tamora Pierce. Some of the characters may also end up being copyright to Tamora Pierce. All other places and characters, not from Tamora Pierces books, are from my imagination, so please do not copy any part of this story, without my permission.  
  
  
  
Hoofs pounded the ground as the horse thundered to the palace stables. Eve could still hear hoofs behind her and yelled for her horse, Wendy, to go faster. They finally reached the almost abandoned stables only slightly ahead of William and his horse. Almost breathlessly, Eve clambered off her exhausted mare and took to the ground. Her legs were wobbly beneath her, and she only managed to refrain from falling by taking a tight hold to a railing that divided two stalls. William and his strong gelding, Nimrod, rode into the stables a minute later, William in not much better condition than Eve when dismounting from his horse.  
  
"Eve," William panted when safely on the ground, "in all of our years of knowing each other, you never fail to impress me."  
  
"And I hope it stays that way. You will always need someone to beat you at something, and reduce your big head to its normal size," she teased with a grin on her face.  
  
"Oh, and this comes from Miss "I can beat Will at everything," you're just as bad as me at having an ego," William mocked.  
  
"No, see, I tell the truth when saying I beat you at everything, you are the liar," retorted Eve.  
  
"Oh, ouch, that hurt, your sharp tongue gives a worse beating than anything else," said William. And with that, and a punch in the arm from Eve, they trotted off to the dining hall for lunch; leaving their horses to some stable hands.  
  
The two friends sat down to lunch with a ravenous appetite from all of their riding. The food served to them was quite adequate, and by the end of the meal, they were both full and content. Eve and William glided down an almost abandoned corridor in the palace to Williams's private study. They sat down at a small table, across from each other, and looked meticulously at the chessboard spread out on the table.  
  
Eve gracefully moved one of her white pawns up two spaces and awaited Williams move. William moved one of his black pieces forward, his mind racing with various strategic moves that he could use. The game went on slowly like this for almost an hour, when Eve lost her train of thought and made an absolutely ridiculous move. William had her in check before she could think. William had her in checkmate within his next few turns.  
  
He acted very gallant in his victory, for a little while. The two split up and went to their separate rooms to bath and get dressed before supper started. It took Eve quite a time to get ready for dinner. She always liked to soak in her bath until the water was no longer warm, though it was unladylike for her skin to be like a prune when she got out. She knew her bath was at an end, when, like clockwork, she heard the chime to start dinner, and she noticed an abrupt change in the temperature of her water.  
  
She put on one of her favorite dresses, which was amethyst colored; it did wonderful things with her wild brown hair. She forced her stubborn curls into a bun, and clipped up little bits that weren't controlled to her liking. Eve wore her jewelry sparsely as not to be the focal point of her ensemble. She looked wonderful, as she always did, with very little face makeup and jewelry.  
  
Going out into the halls, she noticed that there were still young pages and squires hurrying, not to be late to dinner. William and their other friends, including, Jacob, Ellie, Paiden, and Naomi, were waiting in the hall as they always did; William in his clean white shirt and brown breeches. After they had greeted Eve, the friends continued down to dinner. William's brown hair danced on his forehead as he walked.  
  
They reached the ancient oaken doors of the dinning hall right before the evening prayer was given, and waited until it was over before getting their food. The six friends sat down at their usual secluded table in the corner of the hall. They ate peacefully until, in the middle of their meal, William could no longer hold in the urge to gloat about his beating Eve at chess.  
  
"So what did you two do while we were in town?" Paiden asked in his low baritone voice. Jacob, Ellie, Naomi, and him had been in town shopping for Eve's birthday gifts. William had already bought his earlier.  
  
"Oh, nothing much, I destroyed Eve at chess though," bragged William, with a proud grin on his face.  
  
"Yes, but you also lost to me at racing this morning," retorted Eve.  
  
"It was a close race," exclaimed Will.  
  
"It was a close chess game."  
  
"Oh, whatever," mumbled William, his pride temporarily tarnished, and not able to think of anything else to say.  
  
"That's what I thought," Eve said, shaking her finger at him.  
  
They finished their meal quite undisturbed after that, and they got up from their meal with full bellies and a jolly attitude. The six friends strolled over to a sunroom in the castle that overlooked the royal gardens. The dying sun melted around the room and it gave a sense of comfort and security. For a while the friends sat in easy chairs around a table watching the sun fade away and surrender itself to the horizon. As night approached William took out a deck of cards from one of his many mysterious dinner-jacket pockets.  
  
The friends went into jolly game, with money as the prize. Paiden was quite broke before the night had finished, but the others let him stay in the game, just to say that they could beat at least somebody. They stayed up long after the night had set in, but they did not seem to tire for a long while. The ominous night set in around them, and the garden outside the window was nearly invisible to them, for it had been engulfed in the darkness.  
  
In the middle of their evening, after much winking and silent, supposedly unnoticed, gestures between two of the group, Jacob got up from their game with the excuse that he needed to use the restroom. A couple minutes after Jacob had left Ellie got up and said that she was going to get more money to play with from her rooms. As Ellie left the table and walked out of sight down the same corridor as Jacob had, the others burst into laughter.  
  
"Hum, I wonder when they'll be back this time," joked Paiden.  
  
"I don't know, but this is becoming a regular thing now. First one of them leaves them the other," stated Eve.  
  
"And they don't even suspect that we know what they're doing," William said with a chuckle.  
  
"I do wonder, if we should tell them that we know?" Asked Naomi.  
  
"Oh, but it is such fun watching them think of knew excuses to leave the group," exclaimed Eve.  
  
"Oh, we are cruel, aren't we?" asked Paiden.  
  
"Yes…we are," said Eve with an almost proud tone of voice, chuckling. The group burst into hysterical laughter, and it was only quieted when Paiden, who always had trouble controlling himself, fell out of his chair and knocked the table over with him. All of the friends, after much chuckling and laughing at Paiden (who was laughing along with them), got down and picked up the table, the chair, the cards, the money and Paiden himself. William talked them into starting a new game, and they eventually resumed play.  
  
A little while after they had started the card game they all saw, just barely, Jacob, stopping in the dark hallway, where he thought that no one could see him, and he brushed his black hair back and straitened his green tunic. They all chuckled lightly to themselves and gave silent gestures to each other, as they looked back on their game, as if they hadn't seen Jacob in the hall. Jacob strode over to them acting as if he hadn't been gone very long and took a seat at the table.  
  
"Started a new game without me, huh?" Jacob asked accusingly, "And where did Ellie go?" He added with fake innocence.  
  
"Well, if we knew you'd be gone so long, we wouldn't have started so soon," said Naomi glancing at the others.  
  
"Oh…yes…well…I…I got lost in the corridors," explained Jacob, using the only excuse he could think of, "You know how big the royal palace is. I must have taken a few wrong turns."  
  
"Right," said Paiden, chuckling to himself. They all nodded in agreement that Jacob knew very well that the bathroom was straight down the hall, only a little ways from the room they were presently in.  
  
The game continued, and Ellie returned only a few minutes after Jacob. Somehow she had forgotten the money she was supposedly getting from her rooms. Around midnight the game ended and the friends went their separate ways to their rooms. William walked Eve back to her rooms, as he always did, because it was on the way to his suite. Eve left William after saying goodnight, and entered her sparsely but nicely decorated room. There she picked up a good book, curled up in her covers on her bed, and read herself to sleep.  
  
The next day started out being much the same as days were for the group of friends. They met to eat their morning meal around seven o'clock in the morning, which Eve thought should be a crime against the crown. Eve, unlike her friends, was not a morning person, and was cautiously avoided during the morning hours. Eve was not graceful in the least in the morning, and was never quite coordinated. She was known by her friends to often spill some of her morning meal on herself, and not even notice it. The friends used to make jokes about Eve in the mornings, until they learned that they would get a smart rap on the back of their heads, if they did.  
  
After breakfast, they all went into to the capital city, which was adjacent to the royal palace. Eve was still in her morning mood, and didn't notice exactly what day this was, until they all stopped at a restaurant to eat. The server brought out a huge cake, with nineteen candles on it, and Eve's eyes went wide with the realization that it was her birthday. The friends all pulled out their gifts to her, and placed them on the table.  
  
"Well…blow out your candles," urged Paiden. Eve made a wish to herself and blew out all nineteen candles in one breath.  
  
"Oh, guys, thank you so much," said Eve, still perplexed at what was going on. She carefully grabbed one of her gifts, at the suggestion of doing so by Naomi. She picked up Ellie's gift first and opened it to reveal a very intricate design carved into a bracelet of fine metal. Paiden's gift was a compass, which she had wanted since she was a child. Next came Jacob's gift, a well-made dagger, which he had found Eve staring at through a shop window earlier that week. Naomi got Eve a wonderful pair of silver earrings that Eve thought would look wonderful with her blue dress. Last was William's gift, which Eve opened very carefully because it was wrapped in fine silk, it was a golden necklace that had a locket attached to it with an engraved picture of a dove on it. Doves were Eve's favorite animals. She opened the locket, but it didn't have anything in it.  
  
"I thought you could maybe put a picture of your sister or something in it," explained William.  
  
"It's wonderful, all of these gifts are wonderful, thank you guys, this is one of my favorite birthdays," said Eve, almost in tears, at all of the thought that her friends had obviously put into her gifts.  
  
The group walked back to the castle just before dinnertime, after a long afternoon of eating cake and shopping in the city. Eve had bought herself a new riding outfit, which she wanted to try using after dinner. The friends ate as they usually did, and were full early since they had all had more than their fill of cake that afternoon. After supper, Eve asked them all if they wanted to go riding with her. Ellie and Jacob both made the excuse that they were too tired to go, they said that they were exhausted after all of that walking in the city earlier that day, and that they were going to read a book and take to bed early. The other friends all laughed as the two left down the hall, knowing that they were making yet another excuse. Paiden had work to do on some maps he was working on for the king; and Naomi had to report to her mother and the seamstress for a dress fitting for the upcoming ball.  
  
William and Eve went out to the stables, after Eve had changed into her new riding gown. Eve mounted her honey brown mare, Wendy, and William mounted his deep brown colored gelding, Nimrod. They rode off toward the royal forest as the sun started to set. Eve loved night rides, and wasn't afraid of the darkness that was going to set in. William was a tad bit more cautious about riding in the forest when he couldn't see in front his horse more than a foot. Both of the horses knew what they were doing, and glided gracefully in-between the trees with no trouble at all.  
  
After riding for some time in complete darkness, except for the eerie presence of the crescent moon floating through the tree branches, Eve and William both felt a drop of rain of their skin.  
  
"Uh-oh," whispered Eve just barely loud enough for William to hear, "Wendy, does not like the rain."  
  
"Back to the stables," William commanded to Nimrod, and the horse obeyed without reluctance.  
  
They reached the stables about fifteen minutes later, the horses galloping at full speed. It had already started to pour down raining and lighting flashed in the sky, giving ominous light to the surrounding areas. The other horses in the stables were frightened and the stable hands were having a hard time getting them to calm down. William and Eve unsaddled and groomed their own horses. The rain and lightning had gotten worse by the time they were done, and thunder rolled above them.  
  
"We had better run for it," suggested William, "Back inside the palace," and with that, they raced of at top speed toward where William would drop Eve off, at her rooms. By the time they got to her room, they were both laughing hysterically, for they were creating one big puddle down the abandoned corridor. They stopped at Eve's door, exhausted, and Eve was about to say goodnight, and unlock the door to enter her rooms, when William turned her head up to face him.  
  
"Happy birthday Eve," he whispered. And with that, he put his lips on hers and kissed her, long, hard, and passionately, all at once. When William released her from his grasps he stared at her for a second, his face red with embarrassment, turned down the corridor, and walked quickly away into the shadows. Eve was quite shaken when she unlocked her door and entered. She was perplexed by the events of the past few moments. Eve sat down in the most comfortable easy chair in her room, and fell asleep, almost instantly.  
  
Please direct any comments you wish to, to: bond_lady_3@yahoo.com 


	2. Part 2

In the Shadows  
  
1 Part 2  
  
By: Emily AKA Haley of Neron  
  
The men were already sitting at the table, in the dining hall, talking merrily. Eve walked in with Naomi and Ellie; they had been discussing William's actions of the previous night. Ellie thought that it was romantic, and that it was time they got together. Naomi said that she was impressed he got up that much courage, but also that he shouldn't have just jumped on her like that, so unexpectedly. Eve was inclined to agree with Naomi, and said that she would have thought him drunk at the time, if she had not been with him the entire day, and not seen him drink any alcohol. Eve strained to hear what Paiden, Jacob, and William were talking about, as she stood with the girls in line for food.  
  
"What did you think you were doing?" Eve heard Paiden ask.  
  
"I don't know. I am afraid that I scared her. I shall have to clear it all up now," is what William said in response. Eve couldn't hear anymore, because a page interrupted her spying by almost running into her with a tray. Eve gathered herself again, and hastily got some food, eager to catch up with Naomi and Ellie, who were already walking over to the table.  
  
As Eve neared the secluded table in the corner of the hall William stood up and walked over to her seat, pulling it out from beneath the table.  
  
"Lady," William said, sarcastically and exaggerated, "your throne awaits you."  
  
"Well thank you good sir, 'twill not excuse the actions of the last night," exclaimed Eve grinning evilly, taking her seat.  
  
"I am sorry Lady Eve, but I do not control what my brain tells me to do," William explained, and stood next to Eve's chair, looking down at her.  
  
"Brain," she retorted, "What brain?"  
  
"Well, I was going to say sorry again, but I don't think you deserve anything now."  
  
"I do deserve it, and you should be sorry."  
  
"Okay, I guess you're right," admitted William, "Next time I shall ask before I do something like it again."  
  
Eve was about to say good, and that he should ask next time, but she didn't have time. William bent down and gave her a passionate kiss, obliterating her thoughts of saying anything.  
  
"Maybe I won't ask," whispered William when he broke the kiss, and he went to sit back in his seat.  
  
Jacob, Naomi, Ellie, and Paiden were hysterical with laughter, though Naomi, being the more proper of the bunch, was trying to restrain herself as much as possible. She was failing horribly. Nobody had even noticed Eve until she got up from the table, walked over to where William was eating, and slapped him unmercifully across his cheek. She walked triumphantly out of the hall, leaving many people watching in awe behind her.  
  
William stood and stocked off after her, mad and confused, wanting desperately to clear things up. He knew very well that he deserved what he had gotten, but he didn't think she would smack him in front of the occupants of the entire dinning hall. He hurried out the entrance to the hall and looked every direction to see where Eve had gone. William just caught a glimpse of her turning down the right corridor. He followed her unnoticed, keeping his distance, wanting to know where she was headed. Eve turned to a door that lead outside, and William instantly knew where she was going. The gardens, of course, thought William, why didn't I know that. The gardens were Eve's favorite place in the whole of the royal palace. They gave her a tranquil place to think. William and Eve had been friends since their families met at court, when they were only little children.  
  
Eve had always gone to the gardens when she was mad and upset. Sometimes she just went there because she liked it, and the only person who knew of her hiding place was William. She hid up in the branches of an ancient oak tree. She was a very good climber. Unfortunately, so was William.  
  
William could barely see through the branches, for she was very good at hiding. Eve was sitting there pretending to examine a leaf, but William could tell that her thoughts were preoccupied with something else. He quickly climbed up the tree, and sat facing Eve, who didn't look up from her leaf.  
  
"Someday I should find another place to hide," Eve mumbled to herself.  
  
"No, you shouldn't. Here I know where to find you," commented William, putting his hands gently under her chin, and forcing her to look at him, "I really didn't mean to scare you. I just didn't know how else to express my feelings."  
  
"I didn't know what to think, what was right," admitted Eve, staring into his eyes, trying to guess his every thought. "At first I thought maybe you were drunk, but I crossed off that idea due to the fact that you hadn't drunken any liquor that day. Then I thought maybe you didn't mean anything by it, and it was just because of my birthday. But I doubt that. Then when you did it again this morning, I thought that maybe it was just a joke. I am not to be toyed with Will."  
  
"I'm neither drunk nor insane. It was not a joke, and I am not toying with you."  
  
"Then what is it then, were you dared to do it?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then what?" asked Eve, almost shouting.  
  
"I love you Eve. Or am in love with you. I am not quite sure if there is a difference."  
  
Eve was stunned by the blow that had just hit her. "You…you're what?"  
  
"I love you," repeated William. "I always have." He jumped down from the tree, and walked to his room, leaving Eve there, perplexed in thought. He was embarrassed beyond embarrassment, and couldn't face her; not right now anyways.  
  
Eve sat in that tree all day. Staring at her leaf.  
  
The supper bell chimed at the same time it always did. Eve had not gone to lunch, and had not taken her bath. She had stayed in the tree. She climbed down from her branch and brushed all of the leaves that had fallen off her. She brushed her hair back with her fingers and left for the dinning hall. Eve was not hungry, so she went to the table where her friends already sat, without getting food. The friends said nothing about what happened that morning, and William still didn't look at her. Nobody said anything; they ate their food, and walked silently to the sunroom, to start their night of watching the sunset and playing cards.  
  
When the sun had set and the moon was coming up, the friends played cards. Everybody's mood lightened and they started to talk again. They did not talk about what had happened at breakfast. Even Paiden had a jolly attitude, after he had already lost all of his money, once again.  
  
Eve's appetite finally fazed her, and she excused herself for a moment to go and get some chocolate she had in her rooms. William, seeing his chance to talk to Eve alone, made the excuse that he was quite parched and needed to venture off for some wine or water. As he left the table and walked off into the shadows, the remaining four at the table all raised eyebrows in surprise and confusion. They knew that William was not leaving for water.  
  
William caught up to Eve, as she was just about to open the door to her suite. She turned to face him when she heard the unmistakable sound of his pocket watch jingling.  
  
"Eve, I need to ta…" he started, but did not finish his sentence. Eve, hands behind her back, stood on her toes so that she was the same height as him, and glared into his eyes. This startled William, but he continued…  
  
"I need to talk to you," finished William, Eve was so close to him that he could feel the heat of her body near his, and his forehead started to sweat from nervousness.  
  
"Really?" she asked. Just then, the barrier of being only friends crumbled down. Eve leaned closer to William, and pressed her lips against his.  
  
Passion consumed them and Eve, relying on William for breath, opened her door with the hands that were behind her, and backed into her room, William now clinging to her.  
  
Those two did not return to the sunroom that night.  
  
☼☼☼  
  
The sun rose the next morning, and warming light came shining through the window in Eve's bedchamber. A beam of light pierced through Eve's closed eyelids, and she awoke. She sat up in her bed and looked around her. William was sitting in a chair beside the window looking out at one of the gardens, he was wearing the clothes he had been the day before. He turned when he heard her move.  
  
"Good morning," he said with a smile on his face.  
  
"Yes, good morning."  
  
"I guess I'd better be off and get dressed in some clean clothes."  
  
"Yes, you better had." William stood from the chair and walked over to Eve, who was still sitting up in her bed. He bent down and gave her a quick kiss before sneaking off to his own room to change.  
  
Eve took her precious time getting ready that morning, not knowing what she would say to William when she saw him. She put on a white blouse and a blue skirt, which made her wild hair just a tad bit more tame. Eve walked out in the hall, and noticed William, fully dressed, standing and waiting for her.  
  
"Oh how nice…an escort to breakfast," stated Eve with a grin.  
  
"Of course, milady."  
  
And with that they walked off to the dining hall for breakfast.  
  
They walked in the door of the dining hall, and over to the table where their friends already sat. Ellie, Jacob, Paiden, and Naomi all looked up at the two new arrivals with raised eyebrows and curiosity in their faces. They stared at Eve and William as if trying to read their minds.  
  
"What?" asked William when he saw their faces.  
  
They replied in unison, "Nothing."  
  
Breakfast was awkward, to say the least, that morning. Jacob, Ellie, Naomi, and Paiden all wanted to know if what they thought had happened really did happen, though none of them would ask it straight out. William and Eve both knew what they wanted, but thought it was funny, the way the suspecting four were silently suffering.  
  
After breakfast, all six of them went into to town to buy last minute accessories for the ball that was coming that night. Eve still had to pick up the gown that she had waiting for her in a dress shop. William had recently lost a cufflink on his best suit, and needed to have it hastily replaced. Naomi had a custom-made necklace that she needed to pick up. The others were there because they had nothing to do, and wanted to spend the day with their friends. It was a beautiful day, and the shining sun provided subtle warmth.  
  
After a nice lunch in the city, the group went back to the palace to get ready for the ball. The friends all planned to go together and hide Naomi from her scheming mother, who was trying her best to get Naomi married. Naomi wholeheartedly objected to getting married to any of the snobby nobles that her mother tried to pair her with. Somehow, her mother always happened to make her meet and dance with a man who had a personality completely opposite of Naomi's.  
  
They split up to go to their rooms with about three hours until the ball actually commenced. Eve, after an hour of soaking in her tub, decided upon a striking sapphire blue dress that only emphasized her wild hair, but she didn't care. She wore the locket that William had given her, around her neck, which she had somehow found time to put a picture in. It was of William. The birthday present that he had given her had now become a love token. Her other jewelry consisted of the bracelet Ellie had given her and the earrings Naomi had given her.  
  
She walked out in the hall to meet her friends all of whom were ready to go. The band of friends made a great procession, and many heads turned to look at them as the waltzed into the ballroom. The music was already playing, though most of the occupants of the room were at tables eating dinner. Jacob however grabbed Ellie's hand and danced her onto the floor, swiftly moving to beat of the beat of the music. The rest of the group were laughing hysterically at how Ellie was hanging onto Jacob for dear life, trying her hardest not to fall, after being startled out of her wits and dragged into dancing. After watching Ellie and Jacob dance for a little bit the others went and found an abandoned table in the back of the room, and gathered some pages to get them dinner. Jacob and Ellie joined them at the table after three more dances, Ellie tired beyond belief and still not quite coordinated.  
  
After eating his full, William stood from the table and walked over to Eve. "May I have this dance milady?"  
  
"Oh, I suppose so." And with that, they danced their way onto the floor and disappeared in the mists of all of the other people on the floor.  
  
"By the way, you look just ravishing this evening milady," William noted after they had both gotten the rhythm and were dancing with ease.  
  
"Well thank you milord." They danced for two more songs before the ball was interrupted.  
  
Just when the ballroom floor was beginning to be crowded with everybody who was done with their supper and wanted to dance, the door above the stairs, where visiting lords and ladies entered, swung open. The Caller came out and announced the new arrival as Lord Andréus of Ice Mountain. He was handsome to say the least. He had a manly facial structure with short, wavy black hair, and was clean-shaven. His cold gray eyes gave him an essence of power. His body was well built, and had broad shoulders. His height was average to tall, and his weight was neither too little nor too much. His clothes expressed extreme wealth.  
  
As he walked gallantly down the stairway heads turned to look at the new arrival. Nobody had heard of a fief called Ice Mountain, but the king's facial expression showed that there was a such place. By the time that he had gotten to the bottom of the stairs and walked over to great the king, the music had started again, and William and Eve were back to dancing.  
  
  
  
Please direct any comments you wish to, to: bond_lady_3@yahoo.com 


	3. Part 3

In the Shadows  
  
By: Emily AKA Haley of Neron  
  
The next morning William and Eve walked in to the dining room together—with all-knowing eyes upon them, from their friends. William and Eve weren't that late to breakfast, but sat down with their friends without getting food. They had eaten breakfast in William's room early that morning. William sat across from Eve and they looked into each other's eyes, completely toning out everything around them.  
  
"Hello?" Paiden urged, waving a hand in front of Williams face.  
  
"Huh…what?" Was Williams started reply, as he turned to face Paiden.  
  
"Just making sure you're still alive."  
  
"Oh I'm alive all right, and it's damn good to be so." And with that, he turned to face Eve again and commenced a private conversation—something about going for a walk in the garden later that afternoon.  
  
The other four friends were talking together about how to get their "lost" friends out of the daze they were in. In the middle of breakfast the mysterious Lord that had interrupted the ball last night, came striding gallantly through the door. He walked over to the table after getting some food and asked to sit down. He was graciously invited to sit and was instantly bombarded with questions from the four that did not act as if in a trance.  
  
"So where is this Ice Mountain anyways?" Jacob asked.  
  
"It's way up north, where it's cold more than half the year, and where the ice never completely melts," replied Lord Andréus.  
  
"Can you stand it up there in the winter, Lord Andréus?" Naomi inquired.  
  
"To tell you the truth I like the cold. And please, call me André."  
  
Questions came like this for quite a while. Somewhere during the conversation, William and Eve came out of their trance and were startled to find André at the table. After that, the questions started over again, this time coming from Eve and William. André did not seem the least bit annoyed with this, and answered the questions with extreme patience, as if he had not been asked them already. When all of the interrogation was done the friends invited André to go on a ride with them, and he graciously accepted.  
  
They all went down to the stables and saddled their mounts with ease. André had originally given off the impression of a stuck-up Lord who had been spoiled all of his life, never to do any work; now they recoiled thought. He saddled his stallion with the ease of a practiced rider, and his muscles showed that he was hard-worked. His solemn attitude gave the friends the idea that he had been through many hardships in his life, and they now did their best to avoid asking questions about his home and childhood. He seemed to like the silence, but acted as if he also liked being around other people.  
  
After they had all gotten their mounts saddled, they road off into the royal forest, William and Eve lagging behind talking. The sun beat down upon them, but did not affect William and Eve, who were concentrating only on what the other one was saying. Birds were chirping all around them, and it made for a peaceful and relaxing ride. The ground had almost dried from the rain, and their horses trotted through the forest with great ease. By the time Eve and William had remembered that they were with other people, the group had left them behind and left them for lost. They looked around them to see where the group had gone, but found no site of them. They were deep in the forest and had no food or water. The couple thought that it was just a cruel joke that the group was playing on them, and that they would come and find them soon.  
  
William and Eve had no clue where they were, and had no way of finding the way back to the castle. The trees were spread far and wide in every direction and it was the only thing they saw. Not even flowers or shrubbery were in their view, only hundreds of trees; not even pretty trees at that. Eve was not very calm, though William tried his best to make her that way. He was not good at directions and did well hiding his worry. They decided to stay where they were, the group might be able to find them that way. After a while, the two began to loose hope that the friends were coming back to them.  
  
At about noon (they guessed according to the sun overhead) William heard a rustling of some branches behind them, and looked that way. Sure enough, there was the rest of the group galloping up to them with smiles on their faces. They seemed very amused at the look on William and Eve's faces. André was especially amused; though neither William nor Eve could sense why. They didn't think that André, not knowing them that much, would care about the cruel trick the group had played. His face lit up when he saw the expression on the two's faces with cruel enthusiasm, not caring about the joke, only about how the two had suffered and worried. He seemed to gain pleasure from their suffering. Both Eve and William erased that thought from their minds, thinking that they had read his emotions wrong.  
  
"What the hell were you thinking?" William asked. "We could have died out here. Paiden's the only one of us who's any good at directions, and I certainly didn't have any clue as to where we were, and how to get back to the palace."  
  
"Well you certainly weren't paying any attention to where you were going anyways," Jacob blurted out. "If your horses weren't guiding you two along, you would have been lost a long time before we left you."  
  
William was taken a little aback by this, but decided to drop the subject. All seven of them road back to the palace, some happier than others. Eve just wanted to get back and soak in a nice hot bath. After riding back to the palace, the group split up and went to their rooms. Eve got what she wanted, a very long soaking. When the bath was too cold for comfort, she got out and called a servant to get her something to eat. Somehow, William had intercepted the servant and found out what Eve wanted. He brought a plate of miniature sandwiches and grapes. He crept up to the door to her rooms silently and knocked.  
  
"The food you requested ma'am," William informed in a near-perfect impression of the servants voice.  
  
"Coming, just a minute," she answered walking to the door.  
  
When she opened the door she was looking down at her shoes, deciding if they were the right ones. She didn't see who it was that really brought her food.  
  
"Just set it on the bed. Now, what do you think of these shoes, are they too bright?" she asked, still looking at her shoes, not realizing who she was talking to.  
  
"Anything looks wonderful on you," William admitted in his own voice, coming to stand next to her. This made her stand up and look at him. William immediately grabbed her and kissed her.  
  
"And what was that for," she asked when he broke the kiss.  
  
"Nothing really, if you must know."  
  
***  
  
The next few days were a blur to William and Eve. They acted as if they had been "together" their whole lives; which was, for the most part, true. They had resolved all of there problems with each other, and were at the stage of acting like giddy schoolchildren. Their days were spent in the garden talking about virtually nothing, but enjoying each other's company. André became one of the group, and went with them, when they went anywhere. They liked having him around, because he seemed to know quite a bit about fighting, and acted as if he were a big brother to them all. Though the group did their best to include him and though he went almost everywhere they went, André remained almost distant. Nobody could quite figure him out, every time they thought they had him figured out, he did something to totally contradict it.  
  
André, being extremely handsome and charming, was swarmed by the unmarried (and sometimes married) ladies. He occasionally spent an afternoon or night with one, away from the rest of his new friends. André never seemed to find the right girl. He seemed to use his outings with women, away from his friends, as an excuse to sometimes get away from the group. Many times the friends wondered if these times were really spent in the company of a lady, or if he spent them by himself, as a time to be by himself. Even though André spent much of his time with the group, the six other friends never quite trusted him.  
  
***  
  
"Eve, I'm sorry, but I have to go," William persisted.  
  
"But why?" Eve asked.  
  
"Because she needs me, Eve" William explained. "I'm the closest thing she has to family right now. I'm almost like a big brother to her."  
  
"Yeah, a big brother who she almost married."  
  
"That was a long time ago," he recalled. "That is done and over with. I love you Eve, nobody else."  
  
"Then why do you have to leave me?"  
  
"I already told you why, and you know you can't come with me."  
  
"Why can't I?"  
  
"You just can't, it would be too awkward."  
  
"Yeah, I guess so."  
  
"You just have to trust me Eve," William told her.  
  
"I do trust you," she declared.  
  
William left later that afternoon. He rode west, to a fief on the border, where his ex-lover, Kerry, was staying. The ride was only half a day away. She had recently been disowned by her family for getting pregnant with a peasants child and refusing to get married. She had sent a letter, which arrived the day before William left the palace, saying that she desperately needed a shoulder to cry on, and that she was thinking of killing herself. William no longer had anything but friendly feelings toward Kerry, but forgave Eve's jealousy in thinking that he did.  
  
Eve watched him ride off, and could not hold back her tears. The past few days were the best she had ever had, and now those happy days had stopped abruptly. André, who had watched from the shadows, unnoticed, their fight and Williams leaving, and now Eve's despair, came out to comfort her. He led her by the shoulders to the stables, where he saddled both of their horses, and asked Eve to get on hers. She obeyed reluctantly.  
  
"Where are we going?" she asked through raining tears.  
  
"To get something to drown out your sorrows," he informed.  
  
Eve accepted that response, and clung to her horse, as André led Eve's horse, Wendy, out of the palace grounds. Ten minutes later, they arrived at a bar. André tied up both of their horses and led Eve into the bar. They sat down at a small table in the corner of the square building, and asked for some hard liquor. The two sat there all night, Eve had drunken more than enough to drown out her sorrows, now she completely forgot that William existed. As the night loomed on and Eve began to sway in her chair, almost unconscious, André decided it was time that they get back to the palace.  
  
Eve had to sit in front of André on his horse, and he held her up, he was also leading Wendy. When they got to the stables, a groomsman unsaddled and brushed their horses. André carried Eve into the palace, and down the hall towards his rooms. When he got there, he leaned down and gave Eve passionate kiss.  
  
"André dear, what do you think you are doing?" she asked, in all drunkenness, not caring what he was doing.  
  
"Nothing dear maiden, nothing at all," he answered, and staggered into his rooms still carrying Eve.  
  
One thing led to another inside his room that night.  
  
***  
  
The next day Eve woke up, somehow, in her own rooms. She did not recall any of last night, not even what happened in André's rooms. She had a most severe hangover, and almost fainted when William walked into her rooms early that morning. Her knees were wobbly beneath her, and William ran to hold her up.  
  
"What…what are doing here?" she stammered after she was stable again.  
  
"I was only a little more than halfway to Kerry's fief when I caught up with a messenger on his way to find me at the palace. Kerry had already killed herself. I rode solemnly back to here, and arrived only a few minutes ago," William explained.  
  
Eve couldn't believe it, and her bewilderment got the best of her. She collapsed, unconscious, onto her bed. Eve slept all day, and into the night, awaking still quite dazed—William was nowhere in sight.  
  
Eve got up and walked slowly to Williams's rooms.  
  
***  
  
André hid in the shadows, in the corner of the deserted corridor, behind a pillar. He watched William walk to his door, and crept silently behind him. André pulled out a dagger and stabbed William in the back with it. Three times the blade cut though Williams torn flesh, and he let William fall to the floor. André looked around the hall and caught a glimpse of a person running towards him down the corridor. André fled.  
  
***  
  
Eve stood like stone in the nearly abandoned corridor, facing the horrific scene in front of her. Eve had good vision, and knew immediately that it was André in creeping out of the shadows and coming up behind William with a knife drawn. She watched him stab her lover in cold-blood and rushed up to William after she had regained control of her legs. André ran off down the hall. Eve fell to the floor beside William, and held his head in her lap. William had scarcely any life left in his body, but looked up at her with helpless eyes, and muttered one last sentence.  
  
"I love only you," he whispered. And his eyes closed.  
  
Eve sat there looking down at his angelic face. Her screams for help echoed through the halls.  
  
  
  
Please direct any comments you wish to, to: bond_lady_3@yahoo.com 


	4. Part 4

In the Shadows  
  
Part 4  
  
By: Emily AKA Haley of Neron  
  
A salty tear ran down Eve's smooth face and dripped onto William's forehead, running down his cheek and onto the floor. She sat there on that floor screaming in anguish for a long while. Thoughts rushed through her body like blood. She kept telling herself that if she had just gotten up her courage to come into the open before André got to William, that William would still be alive. Everybody ran when they heard her screams, but Eve was too shocked to move, or tell what happened. The friends sat by her, and comforted her the best they could. They were all crying, but knew that the death hit Eve the hardest, especially her being the only known witness to the villainous crime. Eve and William's love for each other was well known now throughout the palace, and Eve was never suspected as the murderer. Eve sat there with her friends around her, with Williams's lifeless head in her lap. Tears flowed endlessly down everybody's cheeks to make a puddle on the floor.  
  
Eve now remembered what happened the night William left for Kerry's. She felt unfaithful to the point where thoughts of suicide raced through her head. She was planning to run herself through with a sword as atonement for her crimes. That thought was quickly diminished—because of her fear of death? Yes. But also with fear that André would kill again. Clear-cut common sense was the only thing that saved her from walking to André right now and confronting him. She had to do something, but now was not the right time; she was too weak with sorrow. She had to be ready, physically and mentally.  
  
Her friends dragged her off the floor long after William's limp body was carried away. Paiden and Jacob carried her to her room, with Ellie and Naomi walking beside them. Eve was exhausted, and fell asleep the moment she touched her bed. The friends walked solemnly out of the room, retreating to one of the sitting rooms, to figure out a way of getting Eve out of what they thought would be a long fight with depression.  
  
***  
  
Eve woke up in the late afternoon, with tearstains on her cheeks, and a vivid memory of what had happened the previous night. She knew who was to blame, and she had to do something to ease her conscience. She limbered slowly out of bed and got dressed in breeches and a shirt—a dress would not work for what she was going to do. Before anything else, she had to have food. Eve called in a servant that brought her a plate of mutton, some bread and wine. Eve swallowed each bite slowly; her throat was hurt from the screaming she had done. She remembered the murder with incredible detail, and it was hard to even think about confronting André. Fear held her back, but mourning pushed her on.  
  
After her late lunch, she went to William's rooms, and gathered a small dagger from his desk. She crept through the hallways, towards André's rooms. People passing by, looked at her with fear and curiosity, as she held the dagger openly. As she reached André's door it took all of her courage to knock. When she finally gathered herself, and did knock, there was no answer. Eve had an idea where André could be, and decided he had left, or was leaving. She rushed quickly to the stables, where she found André, saddling his horse.  
  
Eve ran up to him, but not in time. André left everything he owned on the soiled ground, and leapt upon his horse. Eve ran for Wendy and had her untied just as André was at the palace gates. She road bareback after him, the dagger still in her hand, with the wind blowing gallantly through her hair. She followed him to the Temple District, where he quickly dismounted and faced her. Eve came to a startling halt in front of him and jumped onto the ground. She glared at him with all of the fierceness of a warrior. He glared back, with an amused twinkle in his eye.  
  
"There is no way you can stop me now," he said with a menacing laugh.  
  
"You are not the one to judge what I can and cannot do."  
  
She held up her dagger and lunged toward him. André backed away just in time, retreating inside a temple. Eve followed him quickly. André stumbled when he backed into a bench that sat in the temple. Eve took her chance and swiped her blade at his face; he almost completely dodged the blow. The dagger cut a shallow gash in his cheek, angling down and cutting his lip. He gathered himself and backed Eve into a wall, with a window behind her. Eve swung with her dagger, but André was fast, and grabbed her wrist, making the dagger fall to the ground and slide away. André swung a fist at her face, but she ducked—his fist breaking the stained glass behind her. André backed off a little, enough for Eve to see around her.  
  
She saw the jagged piece of broken stained glass from one of the temple windows; it was just a quick arms reach away. She quickly picked up the piece of glass and held it above her head as if she were wielding a battle- ax, ready to strike the oncoming villain. André approached closer…close enough for her to take the life out of him with one swipe of her primitive weapon. An evil grin spread about his handsome face, and he licked away a little bit of blood from his lower lip.  
  
"You won't do it, not to me…dearest, honey," he drawled slyly, holding a powerful gaze over her.  
  
"You are mistaken," she answered, and with that, she swung the glass down with all of her might. The villain ducked the blow, and ran to grab Eve's fallen dagger, as Eve stumbled to keep her balance. He reached the dagger before she had fully gained control of herself, and was next to her in less than a second. The glass had fallen from her grip, and she was defenseless. André wielded his weapon without mercy, and nearly beheaded her with one swipe of the dagger. She collapsed to the floor, breathing her final breaths of life. As life washed out of her, she could hear André laughing above her, and she could barely see his evil grin. Her existence faded into oblivion. 


	5. In the Shadows- Part 5

Attention readers, I have gotten many people asking me why I did what I did, and there were many people who did not like it. I am thoroughly sorry to any who didn't like it, but this was going to be my one story which did not have a happy ending—a protest against most of the books that I read, which all have happy endings. I do not wish to scare you away from my writing, and I think I can pretty much say that this will be my only story with such an outcome. I'm sorry if I disappointed anyone but this story was written mainly for my own personal relief. I am currently writing a story which I hope to be better than this one, and which will not kill off all of the good guys. Sorry once again.  
  
--The apologetic author of the story you hopefully just read  
  
P.S. If anyone knows where, on this site, I can post a story that is not fan fiction, I would very much like to know. Email me at: bond_lady_3@yahoo.com (yes I don't like the screen name either). 


	6. Epilogue

*Okay, you asked for a happy ending, I'm giving you the happy ending. *  
  
In the Shadows  
  
Epilogue  
  
By: Emily aka Haley of Neron  
  
There was knock on the door to Jacobs room, where all of the friends were congregated. They were waiting for news that Eve had woken up and come out of her rooms.  
  
"Come in," Jacob called to the door. A page walked in with an excited look on his childish face.  
  
"Ladies, Sirs," the page said nodding to the rooms occupants. "The lady that you requested I tell you when she leaves…"  
  
"Yes?" Paiden urged.  
  
"Well she's left, Sir."  
  
"Where?" The friends asked in unison.  
  
"She ran out to the stables where Lord Andréus was saddling his horse. The Lord quickly got on his horse, leaving his things, and the Lady followed him. There are rumors of sittings of them in the Temple District. They say that she was in a fit of rage and she was going to take her revenge upon the Lord André."  
  
The friends rushed through the door, as they spat a thank you to the boy. They raced to the stables, and were out of the castle grounds in minutes. It didn't take them long to find the exact temple that Eve and André had gone to, for André was still mounting his horse when they arrived. His clothes were in a tatter and his hair was ruffled. Blood was splattered on his clothing and a knife he was sheathing presently, was drenched with blood-red liquid. The friends all derived a conclusion before the villain even saw them coming. When André did notice them, he quickly unsheathed his blood-drenched sword and prepared for battle.  
  
Naomi and Ellie both saw the blood trickling onto the streets out of the temple door; they dismounted and ran to see what was amiss. Paiden and Jacob got off their horses and walked slowly towards André, their swords flashing in the reflective light of the unyielding sun.  
  
"You needn't worry about Eve, dear friends—she is already dead," André assured, with a menacing grin.  
  
"In that case, you have a murder to be punished for," Jacob exclaimed.  
  
"No, wrong you are—two murders to be punished for. William died by the power of my sword also."  
  
"Then you will die by my sword," Paiden declared.  
  
"Ha, very funny, but you're welcome to try."  
  
"I think I will," Paiden said, and rushed at him, with Jacob right behind him.  
  
Paiden ran headlong into André, with his sword raised above his head, in a triumphant-looking but ultimately clumsy and useless move. A scream came from inside the temple, as Naomi and Ellie found Eve's lifeless body. The scream powered Paiden to drive on into the villain and pin him against a wall.  
  
Lord Andréus pleaded for mercy, but death was his fate, and he could not escape it. Paiden's sword slit his chest without pity, and Paiden could only think of his friends, of whom this villain murdered. André laughed his last breaths of life out of him, and insanity consumed him. Death was his fate, and he could not escape it. 


End file.
